Department of Justice v. Landano
| Department of Justice v. Landano | |
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| Argued February 24, 1993 Decided May 24, 1993 |
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| Full case name | United States Department of Justice, et al. v. Vincent James Landano |
| Citations | 508 U.S. 165 (more)
113 S.Ct. 2014, 124 L.Ed.2d 84
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| Prior history | Landano v. United States Dep't of Justice, 956 F.2d 422, Landano v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 758 F. Supp. 1021 |
| Holding | |
| The Court held that the Government is not entitled to a presumption that a source is confidential within the meaning of Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act whenever the source provides information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the course of a criminal investigation. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | O'Connor, joined by unanimous |
| Laws applied | |
| 5 U.S.C. § 552 et seq. | |
Department of Justice v. Landano, 508 U.S. 165 (1993) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Government is not entitled to a presumption that a source is confidential within the meaning of Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act whenever the source provides information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the course of a criminal investigation.
On August 13, 1976, during a robbery by two gunmen of the Hi-Way Check Cashing Service in Kearny, New Jersey, one of the gunman killed Newark police officer John Snow. A Hudson County Grand Jury indicted Allen Roller, Victor Forni, Bruce Reen, and Vincent James Landano for felony murder and armed robbery, along with other offenses.
The trials of Forni and Reen were severed from the trial of Roller and Landano. Roller entered into a plea deal with the Hudson County Prosecutor and gave damaging testimony against Landano during the trial. The state believed that Roller and Forni planned the robbery, but that only Landano and Roller actually participated in the crime.
An unindicted co-conspirator, David Lee Clyburn, testified that Roller and Forni planned the robbery, and that they planned to "take care of" a police officer who usually delivered large amounts of cash. Clyburn stated that he withdrew from the plan as he did not want to kill a police officer, and was concerned that as the only black, the others would turn on him. Roller's testimony was different from Clyburn's. Roller stated that while planning the robbery, Forni offered to recruit "Jimmy" and that later Landano agreed to participate. Roller stated that Forni drove Landano and him to a parking lot, where they stole a car, and then Landano and Roller went to the site of the robbery.
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